De Laet's Landing delayed by weed

State wants waterfront project reworked to protect 'water celery'

Chris Churchill Business write, Times Union

By Chris Churchill Business writer

Published 1:00 am, Thursday, November 5, 2009

Rendering of proposed de Laet's Landing project -- Developers of the massive de Laet's Landing project on the Rensselaer waterfront said Monday that they expect to begin construction in the spring on the building pictured above, a 40,000 square foot office building designed by Olsen Architects in Saragota Springs. Times Union
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RENSSELAER — A massive and much-anticipated development planned for the Rensselaer waterfront has been stalled by a humble and gentle adversary: seaweed.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation says a harbor and marina planned as the heart of the de Laet's Landing complex could be destructive to important river vegetation, surprising developer U.W. Marx Construction Co. and forcing it to remake its proposal.

"We knew the sub-aquatic vegetation was there," said Jeff West, a U.W. Marx. vice president. "We just didn't know it would be viewed as this precious."

As originally planned, de Laet's Landing was a 1.5 million-square-foot project consisting of shops, restaurants, apartments and offices — all built around a harbor carved from the Hudson riverfront.

Renderings of the $300 million plan show a broad expanse of water, with sailboats and crowds of pedestrians strolling on a waterside promenade. The project is viewed as a key economic booster for the city and a way to open the Hudson River to increased tourism and recreation.

In fact, U.W. Marx views the water as a major selling point, with the project modeled on the redevelopment of Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The company expects it will take 10 to 15 years to build de Laet's Landing, which would be across the river from downtown Albany.

The DEC has not formally rejected the harbor and marina. But it has warned U.W. Marx it might reject applications for necessary environmental permits if the project is not reworked.

"We're willing to work with the developer to come up with a project that would be more protective of the vegetation," said Maureen Wren, a DEC spokesperson.

Wren said "water celery" is the seaweed that would most be affected by de Laet's Landing, and said the plants improve water quality and provide important protection for fish.

Such vegetation is rare in that section of the Hudson, Wren said, in part because of efforts to deepen the river's shipping channel.

The de Laet's Landing project has been a long time in the planning.

U.W. Marx first announced the development in 2004, proposing to build new schools elsewhere in the city for schools then on the site. The new schools opened early in 2008, and U.W. Marx began preparing the site for redevelopment later that year.

"We tried to do everything right," West said. "Then something comes out of left field like this."

West stressed that U.W. Marx will not abandon its plans, saying that development will occur there with or without the harbor. But he said the DEC action could limit the project's orientation toward the water.

"We're trying to come up with alternative designs," West said.

City officials in Rensselaer are eagerly awaiting the start of de Laet's Landing construction, and Mayor Dan Dwyer expressed frustration at the possibility that harbor plans could be scuttled.

"That's kind of discouraging because that's one of the focal points of the project," he said. "We're a little stymied right now."